The Soul Gauntlet
by OLD USERNAME DON'T FOLLOW
Summary: The final installment of "Marvel Meets The Meisters!" Thanos is in town, and he has the Soul Gem. Everything you've read so far has come to this! Told from Soul's POV. I'm sorry if it's confusing, but it's my first time doing first-person POV.
1. Waking Up

"Kishin... AWAKE!"

Those words. Those awful words. Then all went black.

When I awoke, I was in an alleyway. Obviously not in Death City... but definitely a city. I stumbled out to see... something I'd never seen before. This city was much, much bigger than Death City. I wasn't sure where the hell I was. Then I saw something I definitely had never seen. A teen, wearing red and blue swung past me on... a rope? It looked like a rope. Either way, I passed out from seeing it. I'd never seen anything like it.

Now? I'm walking around, exploring. There's a newspaper over here. It might say where I am. Let me see... New York City. That's at the other end of the country. Why am I in New York? "Maybe, deep down, you know." Did someone just read my thoughts? There's someone behind me. It's... "Phoenix! What are you-" "Ssshh! Scream out my secret identity to John Q. Public, why don't you?" What on... I have no idea who that it is. "I don't believe I know the gentleman." Why is she banging her head on a lamppost? She's... oh, great. She's giving me the Excalibur Look. "Come on. I'll get you a coffee." "I've never really had a coffee before." "It's good. You'll like it." She's heading for that building over there. The "Coffee Bean." I'll check it out.

Nice place. I'm guessing I just wait in line here, then. Oh, someone's coming over. Why does she look so familiar? "Welcome to the Coffee Bean. May I- what the hell are you doing here?" That's odd. She's generally not one to curse. But I'd recognize that long blonde hair anywhere. "Good to see you too, Liz. Can I get a caramel macchiato?" "You like those? I think they taste like crap." Something's definitely wrong. Liz never curses unless she's peeved. "You okay?" "I... ug. I'll catch up with you on break." Well, I'll just sit down and wait for Phoenix.

"It's official. I love coffee." Phoenix is smiling (Good sign.). Liz looks mad (Bad sign.). "So, Liz. Have you seen Maka, Black*Star, or anyone else?" "I think I saw Black*Star. He was standing on this pole thing and yelling random crap like he always does. Then these guys in blue pulled him down and put him in their car. The blue guys were saying stuff like, 'You have the right to remain silent.'" I think I may cry. I'm so- "ARGH!" "Yikes, Soul, are you okay?" Liz is smirking. "I told you, PUT A LID ON YOUR DAMN COFFEE." Great. I now have coffee on my crotch. How could this get worse?


	2. Architectural Symmetry

"Why the hell would you do that, Black*Star? It's illegal to cause a public disturbance like that." "I couldn't help it. No one knew who I was so I had to tell them myself." Jeez, my wallet's empty from paying his bail. I need a break. If only I could find Maka, or Kid, or... wait a sec! "I think I might know where Kid might be!" Sure. _Now_ I get Black*Star's attention. "Seriously? Where?" "The tallest building in the city... it has perfect symmetry."

Don't see him anywhere. He might be on the other side of the building. "Wait... yeah. I see him." "Good job, B.*S." Hee hee. I don't think he noticed my joke. Whew! "Well, there's Kid." "Is he... kissing the building?" I'm horrified at this. Wait, is Kid's nose bleeding? "Yup." Did Phoenix just read my thoughts again? "Kid! Get up now!" "I don't want to... my precious... you're so symmetrical... GAK! Liz!" "Come on. We're going." "I don't want to go." "GET YOUR ASS UP, DAMN IT." Where did Patty come from? Well, she's gotten Kid up. "Why? It's so symmetrical. You're just jealous that your breasts are two different sizes." And he's still whining. What's that guy in the sky? He's coming down. "Come let us go to the Avengers' base. 'Twill be an appropriate hideout."


	3. The First Of Many Matrix References

"Why do we have to go there?" "I know where your allies are, Eater of Souls. If you wish to see them-" My head... blacking out... "You seem ill. Art thou-" Can't stay conscious. _Whump_.

I'm awake. But... this isn't where I was. And what's with the suit I'm- oh, no. There's jazz playing. No! NO! It's happening again! "La la! La la la!" Oh, great. The red ogre from my dreams. I thought I got rid of it. How could it have come back? "So, Soul. I have a preposition for you." He's reaching for his jacket. He's pulling out a vial of black blood. Wait... WHAT? "All yours, Soul." Yeah, right. "No way. I'll kill you before you can even get me to consider to even _touch_ that thing." He's smirking. (That can't be good.) "Well, the good thing about me is that there are so many me's." I'm not turning around, I'm not turning around- I'm turning around. OH, CRAP!

I'm surrounded by mini-ogres, as well as bad _Matrix_ references. (Damn you, Laurence Fishburne.) "Get him, boys!" What are they whipping out... guns! I think they're AK-47s, Extended Magazine. (I've been playing too much _Call of Duty_, haven't I?) The ogres are firing. What should I do? Have to bend backwards in... slow... mo...tion! "Whoa." Whew. Dodged them barely. Need to turn my arm into scythe blade. Jump up... come on... bring it down... SLICE! _Slit_. _Shunk_. That went far quicker than I thought. Now for the main guy (I'm calling him "Evil Shrek" from now on.). "You can't kill me. I'm part of your mind. If you kill me, part of you dies-" _Slice_. "Shut. Up. For Death's sake, you're so freaking annoying."

"WAK! I'm awake now!" I'm awake now. I'm in a bed. The shirt I'm wearing. It says "Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage, and Logistics Directorate." If I take the first letter from every word in that, it spells out "S.H.I.E.L.D." Is that some kind of organization? Sounds like it. But what kind? Their name mentions espionage, so maybe they're spies. Wait a minute. I just noticed something odd about this room. It looks like Maka's apartment. Is Maka here? If one of those S.H.I.E.L.D. guys comes in, I'll ask. I don't see her anywhere. Someone's coming in- "Tsubaki!" What's Tsubaki doing here? They found her too? "Hello, Soul. How are you doing?" "I feel weird. Is everyone else here?" "Everyone except Maka." I'm about to pass out. Again. "Of all people, Maka's the one who goes missing." Tsubaki's giving me a look. That's not good. Tsubaki never gives looks like that unless something's bad. "I'm so sorry, Soul." Oh no. "You're not saying she's-" "They found her body yesterday. The Kishin got to her before Shinigama-Sama could." This isn't happening. It can't be. All that's happened and all I can think is:

_Maka's dead?_


	4. The Body Unveiled

I can't walk. I can't eat. I can't do anything in this state. All I can do is try to deal with the cold, hard fact that the girl I lov- _like_ is dead. And I'll never see her again. The best I can do is at least say good-bye to her body. That's why this Coulson guy is taking me down to the morgue.

"Sure you want to do this, kid?" "Yeah." I'm hearing hurried footsteps. "Sir! Agent Coulson!" It's a woman. "Yes. What is it?" "You asked me to regularly check the Albarn girl's body for any signs of decomposition or other changes due to her mutation." Mutation? Maka _does_ have her dad's power to turn part-scythe. Maybe that's what this chick means. (Why does she look so familiar?) "Were there any changes?" "Yes. In her appearance-" "That's probably just decomposition." "-And her genetic structure." Coulson's turning pale. "Show me. Now."

I have no idea what's going on, but, as it concerns Maka, I have a right to know. Coulson's opening a bodybag on a table marked "Albarn, Maka." _Zip_. "As time progressed, her body started to return to its original state." "Maka's _original state_? She was born green with pointy ears, then? This is major bull!" "Mr. Evans. Please calm-" "Like hell I will, Coulson! I know Maka Albarn. THIS IS NOT MAKA! THIS IS NOT THE GIRL I LOVE!" I think I shouldn't have blurted that out. "Soul-" "How do you know my name, lady?" She's grabbing my head. She's forcing into her- "YAH!" "Miss Blair, please remove the boy from your breasts." "Okay, okay." "Blair! Someone else I know, thank God. You're working for S.H.I.E.L.D.?" "Yeah. Remember the time the X-Men dropped by?" "And we had to save Wolverine? Yeah." "When Nightcrawler teleported us all to safety, he accidentally brought to the Xavier Mansion. I liked it in New York and didn't want to go, so I just joined up with S.H.I.E.L.D." Coulson's tapping me on the shoulder. "Back to the girl, please?" "Oh, yes. I don't think that this is Maka. The real one's been kidnapped." Maka's not dead? That's a load of my mind. There's a guy coming down the stairs. "Mr. Evans, my name is Nick Fury. I'd like you to meet the Avengers and the X-Men."


	5. The Choice

This is insane. First, I end up in New York for no apparent reason. Then, I run into Evil Shrek. After that, I end up believing Maka's dead, only to find out she's not. Now? I'm sitting in a meeting room with the following people:

Tsubaki, Black*Star, Kid, Liz, Patty... pretty much my friends from the DWMA.

Captain America. The leader of the Avengers. Has shield that made Kid spaz when he noticed its symmetry.

Iron Man. Avenger with armor that also made Kid have a nosebleed.

Thor. Avenger who is a god. His hammer got no reaction from Kid (it wasn't symmetrical).

Hulk. Avenger. I'm not going to mess with him any time soon.

Hawkeye and Black Widow. Avengers who like to shoot things. Except Hawkeye fires arrows and Widow fires bullets.

The X-Men. Wolverine, Storm, Phoenix, Nightcrawler, Rogue, and I've met all of them already, so I know them pretty well.

Blair. She looks a little hurt. Probably from when I said the "L" word about Maka.

Nick Fury. Head honcho of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Oh, Fury's about to talk. "People, we have a situation. At dead midnight, two days ago, two simple words were heard by everyone in the country. The words were 'Kishin...AWAKE!' Does anyone know what a 'Kishin' might be?" Kid's standing up. "I do. A Kishin is demon that feeds off human souls. It killed millions before my father, Shinigama-Sama, was able to imprison it in a bag made of its own skin." Rogue looks nauseous. "However, if the Two Words mean what I think they do, the demon has awoken and returned to plague the world." Patty has a serious look on her face (for once). "This thing is bad news. I know what it can...do..." She's trailing off. All of the DWMA kids just got gloomy. I just realized: They're sad about Maka. Blair and I are probably the ones who know the truth, then. Fury's about to talk. He's grabbing something from his pocket. "I'd like to speak with Mr. Evans in private." Captain America just shot me a glance. I'm sure it meant _Good luck, kid_. "Gulp."

He's leading me into a room. It's plain white. With two chairs. (Seems harmless enough.) "Sit, Mr. Evans." "Okay." I see what's in his hand. It's souls. One Kishin, one witch. "Choose a soul to consume. If you don't care about any of this, pick the Kishin soul and add it to the 99 you already have." I have 99 Kishin souls collected? I thought I lost a lot of them. I guess I haven't been keeping track lately. "If you want to make a difference and save your friend, pick the witch soul." I don't know how Fury got these souls. There's something he's definitely not telling me. "Give me the witch." _Gulp_. Oh, yes! OH, YES! I've never felt so POWERFUL! Fury's smiling. "Welcome aboard, Mr. Death Scythe."


	6. DropZone

I have to admit, S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms are sick. It's a leather one-piece, with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on both sleeves. There's a wristband on my arm that doubles as a communicator, clock, and computer that can access Microsoft Office and the Internet. I guess S.H.I.E.L.D. has a lot of smart cookies when it comes to making their tech.

I'm in a helicopter with Black*Star, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz, Patty, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Iron Man. Fury's briefing us right now. "We're hovering right over the Alps, where Captain America took down the Nazi science and research division, known as Hydra. There may be a possibility that they made a new Cosmic Cube. Your goal is to find out. Drop zone in 5...4..." What's going on? "Iron Man, what's going on?" "Just make sure your parachute's on, kid. This might be rough." "2... 1... 0. See you." The bay doors we were standing on the whole time opened, and gravity took us down.

Pull my primary cord... NOW! My parachute popped out. We're landing right in front of the mountains. "There's a door left wide open." I'll walk through now- Wolverine just stopped me. "I smell a trap." He's picking up a rock from the ground and throwing it at the doorway. _ZZZZZT_! Electric bolts just sprung out and turned the rock to ash instantly. "Nightcrawler, 'port yourself in and turn off the defenses. Bring Soul and Liz with you". Nightcrawler just teleported himself, Liz and I inside. We're not disintegrated, so that means we made it in safely. "What's door over here say? I think it's in German." Nightcrawler's looking. "'Experimental Chamber.' This must have been where Arnim Zola worked. Either way, it's irrelevant to us right now." "Uhh..." I just heard faint noises from the Chamber. It couldn't be... I'm too curious. "Soul! Where are you-" _Slam_! I'm not apologizing to Liz. There must have been someone in... "GASP!" On that table! It's... it's... "Maka!"


	7. His Head Is A Webcam!

"...Soul?" Yes, it _was_ Maka! Good thing she still recognizes me. I was afraid someone had screwed with her brain. "Maka, what happened to you? How did you get here?" "The Kishin. When it awoke, it came straight for me. It must have known how close we were to making you into a Death Scythe." I remember now. I had told Maka to keep track of how many souls we had collected. "It was about to kill me when this purple guy showed up and told the Kishin to stand down. I thought the purple guy was going to get killed until the Kishin replied, 'Yes, master.' I'm not sure how it's possible... but I think the Kishin is now working for Mr. Purple." "His name is Thanos." Someone's behind me. It's...

A robot. He has arms and legs, yes. But his head is... well, a webcam. His chest has a giant plasma screen that projects an image of someone's head. "And I am Dr. Arnim Zola. His loyal assistant." I don't like this guy one bit. "That makes you our enemy." Turning into scythe mode now... wait! Why go regular scythe mode when I can go Death Scythe? Here we go! _VOOSSSH_! "Soul? When did you become a Death Scythe? We never got a witch's soul!" "This Nick Fury guy said he'd give me one if I joined his organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. Can we talk about this later?" "Sure. For now, let's just focus on Zola." Zola's taking out something. It's... a green gem. "I would just kill you now, but I have a delivery for my master." He's running away! "Maka, why are you just standing there?" "He's baiting us. Trying to lure us into a trap." "I could care less! I'm going after him!" Morphing to human form... "Soul! Get back here!" For once, I hesitate.

I just saw Maka again. I may never get the chance to again. Then again, if Thanos gets his hands on that gem thingy, he could probably kill Maka unless I stopped him first. It's either obeying Maka or stop an evil threat. Easy choice. "See you!" She's going to be so mad. Can't worry about that now. Zola's headed for a room. It's labeled "Control Room." This must be where the others are... oh, no. They're all tied up and gagged. "Mr. Evans." I'm turning around. Whoa. This guy is purple, just like the Maka described. And no wonder.

It's him.


	8. References And Revelations

Thanos is here. "What a pleasant surprise." This is starting to get annoying. "You know, I'm about sick of these _Matrix_ references." "How do you think I feel?" Someone's behind me. It's- "Hugo Weaving! And Keanu Reeves, too! What are you guys doing here?" Thanos looks peeved. "I have no time for this." _POOFH_! HE JUST KILLED HUGO WEAVING! "Whoa. You, like, totally disintegrated him. Whoa." _Poofh_! Oh, great. I just noticed this, but Thanos has that gem thing. He's embedding it in his glove. "Now you die."

Turn my arm into a scythe blade and I should be good- ARGH! "Ah, yes. The Soul Gem. It is currently being employed to overload you soul's wavelength terminally. Before that happens, though, I'd like to gloat: Did you honestly think everything that's been happening was just a coincidence? Using the Space Gem, I brought the X-Men to your school. After that, everything fell into place. Okay, enough small talk. Now you die."

Yikes! Got to run! Hide out in this corner here and pray I'm not found. Might as well text Fury while I'm here:

Fury,

theres no hydra here. Thanos is trying to (Xb) me. GYADH!

-Soul

I hope this guy understands text talk. If not, I'm dead. I at least hope he knows what "GYADH" means. "Texting on a mission? Not a good plan." Well, my cover's blown. Hold on. If I'm fast, and I turn my arm into a scythe blade... "What are you-" _SHUNK_.

Speared through the chest. "Got you."


	9. Saving Maka

"You... fool. You damn fool!" Thanos is about half dead now. I must have gotten him in the right spot. "Do you know what you've done? Maka Albarn's soul is within my power, Evans! IF I DIE, SHE DOES TOO!" Oh, crap! If he's telling the truth, then Maka's the one who's half-dead. I have to find out. First things first, though. "Hey, Kid! Can you off this guy for me?" "Why should I?" "He's not symmetrical. Look, he has a wound on one side and not the other." _Bam_! Alright. _Now _I'll check on Maka.

No. NO! She's dying! "Oh, Maka! Maka, don't die on me now! Come on! Come on!" She's unconscious. She's still breathing, but her pulse is faint. I'd better get Fury over here with a medic. Wait... there's a S.H.I.E.L.D. chopper landing outside. Fury's coming out with a couple of agents. One of them has a kit with a red cross on it. He must be a medic. (For once, my prayers get answered.) "What happened?" (Fury looks mad.) I think I know what to do now. "Watch her." Pray this works. Run back over to Thanos... grab the Soul Gauntlet (I'm calling it that from now on)... put it on! "Whoa." I feel different. I feel like I am at one with the souls of the universe; living and dead; human, witch, and Kishin. Okay, now's not the time for that! The main objective is saving Maka.

Now to run back over to Maka and pray this works. "_Maka Albarn. Your soul is mine to control_." I'm chanting. Her eyes are opening. I did it! I saved her. Fury's glaring. "Evans. Get her on board."

"So... now what?" "Well, you saved her, but she'll need to stay on life support for a little bit. During that duration, you and your friends will be working with S.H.I.E.L.D. Can you handle that, Death Scythe?" I'm smirking. "Yeah."

_Beep_. _Beep_. _Beep_. Maka's still alive for the time being, but I'm probably not going to be able see her again for a while. _Knock, knock_. Someone's here. "Come in." It's Black*Star and Tsubaki. "Come on, man. we've got a mission." "I'll be there in a sec." "Okay. We'll wait in the hall." Well, time to go. Before I go though, there's only one thing left to do.

_Smooch_.

_(No Matrix actors were harmed in the making of this FanFic. Now that that's off your mind, review.)_


End file.
